April 25, 2012

Beer, cheer and a newspaper. Or, stripping for the RNC

There are three essentials for a successful vacation (and maybe life in general but that’s a different debate): quality coffee, beer, and newspapers.

I’m not sure about the order; newspapers, coffee and beer. Newspapers, beer, then coffee? It changes daily depending on the mood and activities of the day, but there’s no mistaking, for me, the news always leads.

Good coffee will make or break a day. Beer is on the list, simply because it’s timeless, and, it’s beer. As for newspapers, there’s no guide, no t.v. or radio station, poster or pamphlet that can give you better navigation to the people and the place you’re in better than the daily journal. Five or six columns of ink, sentences and photos pounded out or crafted by artisans, masters and hacks alike. The daily has it all: time, place and context. Who did what to whom, when, where and how. The ads give you perspective. Births and deaths tell their own stories. Classifieds are little nuggets of gold and often contain a ton of stories in the margins. If all one did each day was read the daily paper, they’d be the most informed person around – and for about $1.25, I can’t think of better value.

So there I was on a Florida coastline, land of sun, fun and guns. I found the beer ($10.89 for 12 cans of Yuengling, who says Canadians aren’t tax whacked), scoped out Indian Shores Coffee (great service, inside hangs a Canadian flag, free music Saturday nights and they have great muffins and a fine selection of well-brewed coffee) and there I read this gem of a lead sentence in the Tampa Bay Times, a solid paper that’s one of my U.S. favs (it recently changed its name from The St. Petersburg Times to reflect a broader geography):

“Frustrated by a Florida law that blocks all local regulation of guns, Mayor Bob Buckhorn expects to reach out to Gov. Rick Scott for help keeping concealed firearms away from protests during the Republican National Convention.”

Yikes! A TSA agent thought I was from Mars when I tried to carry a sealed bottle of duty free hootch onto the airplane, yet apparently you can host a convention of political heavyweights and bring your six-shooter to the party.

Tampa hosts the Republican National Convention in August. The city plans to create a “Clean Zone” outside the political fun-fest. That zone will prohibit clubs, switchblades, Mace, chains, glass bottles and water pistols and other implements of destruction. But a state law passed last year strips cities and counties from passing laws controlling guns or ammunition.

A day later there was a follow up story that detailed efforts by some of the strip clubs in town to fancy up their places for the visiting RNC policy wonks. The headline said it all: “Tampa strip clubs preparing for bonanza from Republican National Convention.”

Dancing apparently goes hand in hand with democracy and debate. While the city is repairing bridges, repaving streets and putting in park benches, peeler joints are installing private booths, upgrading lighting and hiring more dancers.

Comments

Enjoyed your post and I have some papers for you from Virginia (2 Washington Posts, 1 Harrisonburg Daily Express and 1 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Ok, the last one I bought at a gas stop on the way back home on I-70, but it had a Hamilton story in it, believe it or not. You'll have to wait and see the story, but it is not the CH porno debacle.
Three essentials? Don't you mean four. You forgot golf.
Daniel